


A Tether in Time

by abolynn



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:30:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5800867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abolynn/pseuds/abolynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Premise that not everything was known about why Helena G. Wells was sent away to protect the Astrolab artifact and the Warehouse.   Lots of twists and turns.  Romance and Angst</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  
Helena stepped out into the night. Winter air from the north hit her in the face chilling her down to the bone. The cold was jolting to her senses, walking to get home against the wind. Helena's eyes were watering there was nothing to do but squint them tightly shut. To try and make it through the frigid air. As she walked, it made her feel like the day she was torn from the bronze by McPherson. It triggered something deep. A feeling that sent her mind racing back to the chaos. Flashes of everything that ensued from that moment and her fragile mental state. She hated how her emotions and mind betrayed her and how much it had cost her. She knew what she had been ready to do. Wreak havoc for what happened to Christina. She was better but she had to wrestle against panic like it was this blinding cold.  
Helena grasped at her locket and seemed calm, as she felt a wave of panic overwhelm her.

  
"Just remember what Abigail told you to do, ground yourself, remember you have a normal life now," and Helena's lest favorite piece of advice, "Buck up, You can do this."

  
She could feel her panic ease, as she steered her thoughts toward her work. The magnificent clock with all the gears.

  
"Thank God for the distractions of work." with a new resolve Helena continued to walk into the acid, cold wind.

  
Once again Helena was thankful the regents provided her with a cover and helped her establish her business. She was working custom designs; mostly, steampunk and Victorian, the work came in steady. She also talked to Abigail Cho regularly; they both felt she had shown progress. Being a designer and engineer, allowed for whatever missteps might be made to be passed over. People were willing to assume artistic eccentricity if she slipped. No one seemed to question her. Not Giselle or Cheevers, the man she hired to help with her business endeavors.  
She found a different type of isolation from the bronze; she could not share her real life with anyone.

  
Out of a doorway, a man in disheveled clothes stepped toward her. Helena felt adrenaline course through her body and her heart pounded. All the while her calm facade never caved.

  
"Do you have a dollar?" He reached his dirty hand toward her.  
He reeked of cheap alcohol and body odor.

  
She looked around quickly and when she felt it was not a trap she gave him a dollar. Then pulled her long coat around her tighter. The streets of New York reminded her of London of old. It was a comfort an illusion of familiarity. As she rounded the corner, she saw Giselle's building just up ahead.

  
There were throngs of commuters walking home from work. In the distance a woman appeared curly brown hair, slender, all legs and for a brief second she would have sworn it was Myka. Helena's heart skipped a beat and a smile formed on her lips.

 

"Myka!" She breathed in.

 

She stopped and looked. In an instant, all the panic and ache fell away. Then the woman turned around, and she saw it was not Myka. Helena kept walking, but she entertained what if it had been Myka.

  
Helena never forgot the cruel words Mrs. F. told her the day she left the Warehouse with the Astrolab, and there had been nothing that had helped Helena forget Myka. She turned back facing the wind and walked towards Giselle's building clutching her locket.  
TBC


	2. Chapter 2

 

Walking through an entryway all carved dark Victorian crown molding a real centerpiece of New Yorks Upper Westside. Helena placed the key in the lock; she could faintly hear Giselle busy and already home. It was second nature for her to ascertain a situation, that extra precaution before entering. No matter where she was.

“I’m Home,” Helena said.

Placing her coat on the rack by the door.

"Good Lord, Helena, You need to make more noise when you come in, You scared the life out of me, You could sneak up on a panther,” Giselle said.

Helena smirked in Giselle's direction and said: "Good to see you too" and she laughed.

"Dinner will be ready, In about 30 more minutes," Giselle said.  
As She gathered plates to set on the table.

Helena went over and kissed her cheek, "Do you mind if I check my email before we eat".

Giselle shook her head no and shoved a spoon of sauce toward Helena, who sampled it and nodded and smiled.

"Unless of course you want my help in the kitchen"?

Giselle laughed,"Oh, No, Ms. almost burnt down the brownstone by heating up biscuits in the microwave."

"Not going to live that down am I, fortunately, I am not without other redeeming talents." She bowed and gave a roguish wink.

"Lucky for you" "Check your email " Giselle smacked her with the kitchen towel.

Giselle leaned in and she kissed Helena and looked her in the eyes.  
"You have had a bad day I can see it in your eyes ," she caressed Helena.'s cheek. Helena took Giselles hand and then kissed her forehead and pulled away.

"I better get to work so I can get back down here to you and this delicious dinner," Helena smiled that disarming smile of hers and once again Helena Wells used her charm to hid.  
Helena went up the stairs to her office. She opened the laptop and started pulling up email. Then she looked over at something on her desk. The picture of the Warehouse 13 crew. She had kept it out. It meant nothing to anyone but her. When anyone ever asked about it, she just told them that it was the job that launched her career and the crew who assisted her. She picked it up now rubbing her thumb over the edge of the frame. She drew it in closer to her looking at it rekindling the moment.  
She missed them, they knew her, and they shared a bond and she had worked so hard to rebuild it, it was as close to family as H.G. could get.  
There she was standing next to Myka in the photo. Her mind flashed back in time. It had been at the Bed and Breakfast, and they stood to pose for the photograph. She could remember every detail. Exactly how Myka's hand felt on her shoulder and light citrus smell of her hair as she stood so close to her in the picture. How everyone told her to smile and about that it was no longer necessary to look stern in photos. She had marvelled that there were no more stands to hold one still as they had needed in Victorian days. They began to joke and play, and Claudia captured some candid photos. Helena opened her locket and inside on the opposite side of Christina's faded sepia photo was one from that day.

Claudia had snapped it and Squealed with self-satisfaction  
"This is so you two."

Indeed, the smiles and the way they looked at one another revealed much more than any spoken word ever had.  
God, she missed the ease of their talks and, of course, that day was no different they talked endlessly about books and nothing at all in particular.  
Always an ease of being with Myka and then there was that fact that no one had ever charmed her with just a look like Myka. The sweetness of the kisses they shared She did not dare dwell on that.  
It felt as long ago as Christina, like a dream and this was now, and she had let all that go in Boone. She shut the locket.

Suddenly she heard the music Giselle put on. By all rights, she should be in love with Giselle. Giselle was smart, a stunning beauty, she caught her eye instantly, they were compatible, and it had not been a jump for her to think that perhaps with Giselle she had found someone to love.

Once again it became apparent that the spirit of infatuation and the chase had been confused for something deeper. She wanted to love Giselle; She had also wanted to love Nate. More often than not her thoughts ran back to Myka.

Just as the music swelled, Giselle came up behind her. Helena laid the picture face down on her desk. Giselle put her arms around Helena's neck and kissed her ear.

"Helena, what is wrong, You're in another of your dark far away moods tonight, don't say it is nothing," Giselle asked.

Giselle came around and stood in front of Helena and looked at the desk. She picked up the picture. She held it up and looked at it.  
"You know Helena, I love you," Giselle leaned in, and she planted a kiss on Helena's lips.

Helena kissed her back, but it was not a kiss of passion. Helena looked down at the floor her heart beating like a caged animal. She could not gaze into Giselle's pure blue eye's Helena knew she was going to hurt her, and she did not want to do it, but it was inevitable.  
"It is just --, I can't do this," Helena touched Giselle's cheek.

"I see," said Giselle as tears began to stream down her face.

Giselle gently pulled away. Helena could only look down at the floor because Giselle's face that had seconds ago shone with the warmth of love now accusingly looked as if Helena had plunged a dagger into her heart.

"Helena, I am not naive, and I knew going in that you were trying to forget someone, I am not the type of woman to be second to anyone or even second to just a memory of someone, I have been patient," Giselle gently flung the picture onto the desk.

"No, Giselle you deserve much better than me, You dear deserve far better," Helena said adamantly.

Giselle pulled herself up in a regal manner to veil the deep hurt she felt.

"Of course, I deserve better, and I will have it too; I usually do get my way,+ Giselle laughed, "You and I both usually get what we want."  
"Most of the time."

  
Giselle tried to maintain a calm facade, but Helena could see the burning hurt in her eyes.  
If she threw out, any stabs of hate Helena knew she would endure them because she had brought them on herself.

"Helena make me one promise when you leave," Giselle said.

"Anything dearest," Helena said.

  
"I want you to find this person make it right, or make peace with their memory." She took the picture and handed it to Helena.  
"Because your deeply in love with them, and I do care for you, You deserve love even if I am not that lucky one," Giselle said.

Giselle walked out of the room with all her style and grace that first caught Helena's eye.

Helena sat holding the photo listening to Giselle ' s heels hitting the tile floor. The sound echoed like a clock ticking down she knew she had to sort out her life, without destroying anyone else's happiness least of all her own.

Helena picked up the photo and put into her laptop bag and began packing up. She did not know if she could ever sort out her life.

"No tether, that is you, old girl," Helena muttered to herself.

  
TBC


	3. Chapter 3

  
Helena checked into the Lucerne Hotel it was not far from where she and Giselle lived, and would give her time to figure out where to next. She had passed the old building a thousand times walking from work.   
The posh Westside hotel and its Victorian elegance brought Helena a comfort. Part of her past was still cherished here by this modern era and so it was she found herself gravitating to it now.   
It helped that the subway was close by, she would need to find somewhere to stay permanently, but this would do for now. H.G. decided to go to the hotel lobby bar. H.G could hear Abigail lecturing her not to drink when she was already depressed, but she would worry about Abigail later.

  
A tall, rather a handsome bartender dressed in a tuxedo shirt with a bow tie, came up to the counter and offered to take her order. He put down a burgundy napkin and asked:

  
"What will the lady be drinking tonight," the bartender said.

  
"The lady would like some wine any suggestions." Helena asked.   
As she took a seat at the bar.

  
" We have a Red a house favorite." He showed her the bottle; She agreed with a nod, and he poured her a glass.

  
Helena could hear strains of a melody, from a small band playing at the back of the bar, The low lights similar to the warehouse suited her mood. She straightned the red scarf at her neck, she looked regal as if she owned the place sitting there.

The pleasantly attentive barkeep made sure her glass never ran empty. Soon H.G. found herself drinking a little more than she should. The lovely alcohol fog started to creep in and take its hold, and she let the warm music sooth her.   
Which made it all the more unpleasant when the bartender leaned in and infomed her as he nodded towards a dark haired man with broad sholders walking towards her.

"Ms. Wells, seems you have caught the interest of one of our regulars".

  
"Thank you, my good man, for the warning, Just make up my tab. I believe I have had enough for the evening." Helena said. smiling at the barkeep.

It was that moment the fellow from across the bar intruded on her solitude.

  
"May I join you," He said as he motioned to the empty seat next to Helena.

  
The man favored Pete, which gained him no merit. He did not wait for her to answer. He took the seat next to her.

  
"Boorish move that," Helena thought.

  
He reached in his dinner jacket and pulled out a cigarette and grabbed a match from the bar and lit it. He Inhaled the smoke making a smug face blew smoke back out in billows straight up above his head like a steam engine.   
H.G. watched this peacock display motioning the bartender to tab her out.

  
This unelegant fellow shot a look of disgust that she would not fancy him, but Helena did not even look back as she found her way to towards the elevator.   
There was something about the man; she felt she had seen him before and that she needed to be wary.

  
She sat in her room in a chair beside her bed her head still a buzz from the wine. She pulled out her phone. All of her business contacts, Abigail, Claudia then Myka's cell. She stared at Myka's number on the screen; She had done this a thousand times and never once worked up the nerve to phone Myka. Grasping the locket tucked inside her shirt she felt the cool metal.

  
Tears begin to form, and a solitary tear made its trek down her pale cheek, till it cascaded off and fell onto the collar of her jacket. She turned the phone over face down, and she stood up and pulled the covers back curling up into the Safehold of the bed. Is this all there will ever be she thought.

  
The gentle tug of sleep started and overtook her stilling her thoughts; it was never peaceful sleep. Dreams, filled with faces from the past, Christina, and Myka pleasant and scary. Right before waking the most vivid of dreams being of Boone everyone had switched. Adelaide and Nate were not themselves. Instead Christina and Myka. They were happy, and sensing herself on the verge of waking she fought to hang on to stay in the dream. When she did wake, there was the sterile white ceiling of a hotel room along with the realization that the happiness she felt was a mere fancy of her subconscious.

  
So cruel how dreams could cobble together a perfect world then dash it to pieces all in seconds of one another.

  
Today she would need to be busy, make sure there was no more time for this melancholy.   
Helena would thrust herself into work, and that would chase away what was haunting her.


	4. Chapter 4

Myka could see Old Man Davis's field from her office window. The old tracks in the snow filled in as the snow gently fell. The weather was changing. Gray clouds were billowing limbs unfurled in a dance the wind directed. Some of the kids had already made their way to the field where snowball fights were underway.

Myka's mind had long wandered from the blueprints sprawled in front of her. Rebecca St.Clair's chain of stores would wait till tomorrow.  
Checking her calendar she saw no more night meetings. At last, the wining and dining clients phase was over on this bid. Might as well start shutting down before she needed a snow blower to get home. Landing St. Clair's for Lattimer Security was going to make it a colossal success.

Pete was still talking to Rebecca St Clair in his office. He thrived on the interactions with the clients. At this pace, she would never get out of the building before dark.

Myka smiled, "I will give him a few more minutes,"she thought.

Working here felt like working with her father at Berring and Son's Bookstore. At times the feeling was unsettling.  
Myka got up from her desk and strode the office corridors towards Pete's office. His door was open, and Pete and Rebecca St. Clair were standing in the doorway.

Pete saw her as she was approaching him.

"Myka I want to set up another meeting with you and Rebecca, we need to go over some more of the details, tomorrow, if the weather doesn't shut down the airport," Pete said.

Myka clenched her jaw and nodded "Yes, that will be great, I will have my secretary make the arrangements".

Pete had grand plans for them in this domestic suburbia. He wanted children so badly, and she thought she had in the beginning.  
Now the mere thought made her almost ill. She could not bring herself to stop taking the pill because honestly she did not know what she wanted exactly.  
She loved Pete she thought, and she was trying so desperately to love Pete and to love this existence.

It had turned into endless meetings with prospective clients, selling them on the "brand" as Pete and their Marketing Manger liked to say.  
Not that she did not take an active interest in where to station a detail or where to place a camera in a building for a client's security plan but other than that it was endless boredom.

She walked back in her office looked at the trees outside the window, and she called and told her secretary to set up the meeting for the next day. Her secretary Joan came in her office with a stack of papers for her to sign.

"Mrs. Lattimer, Mrs. Lattimer,"  Joan said. Myka deep in thought.

Myka had been deep in thought.

  
"I am sorry, I got distracted," Myka said.

Myka bit her lip and looked up as she put her signature on the papers Joan had given her to sign.

 "Ever have that feeling your just not where you are supposed to be Joan," Myka said.

"Ever have that feeling your just not where you are supposed to be Joan," Myka said.

"Yeah, Every snow day, I am sure I am supposed to be on a beach in Cabo," Joan said. The two women laughed together.

As the two women laughed together Myka heard her cell phone ringing and picked it up.

"Myka," Helena said.

"Helena, uh...Are you okay," Myka said.

"I am fine," Helena said.

Joan dismissed herself and left Myka's office. Myka trailed behind and closed her office door.

"Hold on just a moment, That is better,You're sure you are okay."

 

"I am fine, I probably should not have called but I - have missed you, I just needed to hear your voice," Helena said.  
There was a silence -

  
Myka felt a familiar tug in her heart;she leaned her lips toward the cell phone, "Helena,it's okay, you can call me you know, It has just been months, I missed you too," Myka said

 

Just as Myka said those words Pete opened Myka's office door making a commotion.

 

"Myka are you ready to leave, Let's grab some burgers on the way home," Pete asked

 

Helena could hear Pete in the background.  
  


“Good Bye, Myka, I will talk to you soon.”  
  


“Bye," was all Myka got out before Helena had hung up.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Pete would have missed the Burger Time Drive thru if not for the red awnings and Christmas Lights. The small white structure would have blended in with the snow. Myka could not help thinking white was the least logical color choice to paint a building in Sioux Falls. 

"Myka you are so gonna love this! I ate at one of these in Fargo, and their burgers are the best "! 

"Pete you say that about every burger joint." Myka smiled.

"I do not, I just say it about the really great ones," Pete said. 

"Okay; then there are just a lot of really great ones." Myka laughed. 

"Welcome to Burger Time! May, I take your order? A plump round-faced woman with red cheeks donning a black jacket, red ball cap, and black ear muffs stated and appeared not to want the answer. 

Pete never fazed rattled off his order.   
"I will have a #4 Double Burger Combo and a Coke, Myka what do you want"?

"Hold on sir I’ll be right back" The plump woman who had been shaking from the cold slammed the sliding glass window shut and walked away. 

Myka took in the woman’s hasty departure and scanned the menu.   
"Pete, order me a Junior Burger." 

The Lady appeared once again at the window and slid the glass open.   
"Okay, I have the #4 Double Burger Combo with a Coke and anything else? You could hear the cold in her voice.

"Yes we want to order a Junior Burger Combo with a Tea," Pete said.

Once again the lady disappeared. Myka and Pete sat in silence watching waiting for someone to appear in the glass. Finally, the woman returned with two bags and drinks. 

They were heading home now. On the drive home, Myka kept replaying the call from H.G. in her mind. She felt she should tell Pete; Myka did not want to give up that information just yet.

She needed to talk to Helena. There had never been closure. Hearing her voice hit a raw part in Myka’s soul. She always reacted with logic. Except when it came to Helena, she reacted from her heart. 

Helena would always be the one piece of her life where logic did not rule. She had gone with her heart once yet there was little to show for it. 

Myka only knew this. She had never known love until Helena. Because of that, there was a richness in the tapestry of her life that had not been there before. With Pete, there had never been the abandonment and folly of love. Pete had been more like comfortable clothes one wore on a Sunday. 

Myka thought many times even if she could never have Helena back, How could she not have loved Her. 

After Dinner Pete had started watching a movie, one Myka had no interest in. She went into their bedroom. She would read for awhile and fall asleep. Another night at the Lattimer Household. 

Myka started looking for a book and she pulled out the Grappler box instead. Myka opened the lid of the Grappler box.   
Inside were post-it notes, letters, books, There were pictures tied with a red ribbon. Myka picked them up and untied the bundle and started going through them.   
Each one had special meaning. 

There was one photo in particular. Her favorite was an image of she and Helena standing close and laughing. She would never forget that day or rather a night it had been taken. Everyone had been in such a good mood.   
As the day wore on to the evening, they all left and went to see a movie in town. She and Helena chose to stay behind and in doing so had the B&B to themselves. There was a song playing on the radio. Myka thought back to that moment, and she was transported to the Bed and Breakfast. 

Helena was standing fiddling with the radio. Myka could not help but glance over the top of her book at Helena's lithe form. 

Helena said " I rather like this tune. " It sounds like a waltz; I was quite a dancer once upon a time." Helena stood up tall, Pulling down her vest  
"I always could lead better than my brother Charles" He always fussed I was an awful back lead." Helena laughed. "Myka do you dance? 

"Not really; maybe a little," Myka said tentatively.

"Not much to it really. Dancing". Helena's smile and eyes told she was scheming. 

"Can you count"? Helena inquired as she surveyed the room to assess its adequateness for dancing. Helena stepped up to Myka and flamboyantly stuck out her hand and winked, pulling her into dance form. 

"Of course I can count," Myka said obstinately yet blushing

" Give me your hand properly" Helena stuck out her left hand, and Myka placed her right in hers.   
"Hand on my shoulder, "Good" “and I shall slip my hand around your waist just so.” Helena had a devilish grin because she knew she would make Myka blush. Myka did of course blush.  
They now stood like two ballroom dancers ready to take flight across the floor.

"And since you can count, it goes like this, One ---two—three—one—two--three, one -two -three..." Helena began to pick up the pace until they were in time with the music. Soon they waltzed across the B&B floor with grace. 

It was so easy for Myka to follow Helena’s lead. They were laughing, counting, and twirling about. Then the song changed, and it was slower. Myka started to pull away, but as she moved away, Helena held her fast. 

"No, not yet"Don't stop." was all Helena said?  
They danced. Swaying together. Their arms around each other never breaking their gaze from each other. What had started as one of Helena's flirtations rapidly took a life of its own. Bodies were swaying to the music. 

Helena took Myka's hand and drew her in closer and closed the gap between them. Myka leaned in and slid her arm around Helena's shoulder and leaned into her neck. Myka could feel Helena’s heartbeat, the pulse of her neck, the smell of her hair, traces of perfume. 

They had never been this close before. Wanting to be closer Myka found herself grasping the shoulder of Helena's shirt tighter. Helena turned her head and kissed Myka's forehead. 

They held each other so close; it felt so right. Myka leaned up, and they kissed. It was a kiss which found them happily in each others arms in Myka's Room the next morning. 

“Mykes! Earth to Myka Lattimer !” Pete had walked into the bedroom and was calling out to her.

Myka jumped she had not heard him come in, and she was lost in her thoughts. 

“Pete!” You startled me.” Myka said.

“What are you doing? Pete said.

“Just looking through some things.”   
Myka dropped the picture and shut the lid. 

"Mykes why don't you come in here with me"? Pete asked.

"I will, give me a moment." Myka took the box and put it in the bottom drawer of her night table. Stood and headed back into the living room with Pete. She may have physically been sitting next to Pete, but her mind had traveled back in time. It was still there with Helena processing her next move. 

TBC


End file.
